Fu Lion Magistrate ("Fu Wizard")
by Marc SaindonOchalea was originally as a backward province settled by Alphatians with little magical power, in which Clerics and Fighters gained the most influence. While I’m not changing that, I would make sense that the rigorous system of exams in classical China that would be used to recruit magistrates and bureaucrats to keep the Empire going could be extended in Ochalea to also detect children with magical potential, and recruit these for “Wu-Tang Hogwarts”: Alphatia is a dangerous enemy, and Ochalea needs all of its own magical resources to counter this threat.
Magic in a lawful-leaning Ochalea is seen as a powerful but a dangerous chaotic force that should be both harnessed and contained. While Alphatian Wizards rule their own empire, the Ochalean authorities make sure instead that the magic-users don’t get any ideas and stay subjected to the will of the State, with arcane magic requiring permits and authorizations from the Ministry of Wonders, registration with the local prefecture, and formal training at the Hall of Worthies, a gated community/magical school (the name is taken from Korean histoy), located not far from Beitung (so the government can keep an eye on it, but maintain it at a safe distance). The Hall has an abundance of guardian lion statues (some are golems), and these fu lions loan themselves as a nickname for the resident “Fu” wizards. There is only one school, and while individual master-apprentice training does exist, it is illegal and strongly cracked down upon.
Hall of Worthies
Chinese guardian lions
Wizards are trained in both magic and administration, under the watchful eye of senior administrators called the Mandarinate. Their arcane magic has its own magical writing system, based on the I-ching ideograms, a deliberate maneuver to keep spells easily accessible to foreign spies and to keep students from learning dangerous unauthorized foreign magic (so “Read Magic – Ochalean” is a distinct spell, and the Ochalean wizard can only use Ochalean scrolls unless he takes a level to cross-train in a different magical tradition). Unlawful magic can earn you a sentence known as Censure, which may be task such as individually counting beans for 10 years, while the greater offenses call for Terminal Censure (death): Ochalea keeps its wizards submissive to keep them in line, although a rogue magic-user still happens.
Fu Wizards are expected to serve as magistrates once they graduate, using their literacy and mathematical skills to keep the tax system going (which further marginalizes them from the rest of the population, some calling them “Dogs” instead of “Lions”). Wizards can’t own land, leave inheritances, or receive titles of nobility, but can serve as regents (and have access to much wealth and prestige). The upper echelons of administrators are said to undergo castration to become “Gold Robes”, political advisors who have access to the Palace in Beitung, and even the Emperor in Thyatis. A political cycle in Ochalea usually involves the Fu Wizards gaining influence under weak and corrupt rulers, until instability calls forth a revolt or a coup, and the new authority purges the government of Fu Wizard influence, until it realizes it needs it and grudgingly invites a trickle of them back to help manage the State.
Mandarin (bureaucrat)
I Ching
(Image from: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/04EEAw)